Devil as an Angel
by LadyFanuilh
Summary: Escape from the black planet! Riddick, Jack & Imam have to fight to survive a completely different situation than before. Based right after Pitch Black, before Riddick.
1. Prelude: Matters of Delusions

No worries, Riddick & the crew's in the next chapter. This is to introduce y'all to a new character so that y'all know how she works.

Disclaimer: We're not the geniuses behind the movie, 'Pitch Black'or Vin Diesel's muscles. wink

* * *

Prelude

Matters of Delusions

* * *

Patient Name: Mackenzie Lenore La Rue 

SEX: Female

DOB: 10/31/1980

Date of admittance: 3/06/1991

* * *

"What is the difference between right and wrong?" A middle age man in a white lab coat asked as his pen hovered over his clipboard. The young woman crouching in the chair before him across the table looked at him. 

"I dunno, right is when you care and wrong is when you don't." She answered, playing with the ends of her dark brown hair. The doctor made a note on his paper.

"Interesting answer, Mackenzie. What a-"

Mackenzie held up her hand sharply, "Listen, the children are crying again." She said as she tilted her head towards the left. "Why won't anyone take care of them?" Her green eyes locked onto his. "Were they bad?"

"Mackenzie, there are no children here. It's just a delusion." The doctor explained as he jotted down more notes.

"Life is a delusion. Dreams are reality. Or is it the other way around?" Mackenzie murmured as she resumes examining her hair.

The doctor sighed. "Mackenzie, I need to evaluate your progress here. I can't do that if you won't listen." He reached across the table and touched her elbow, causing her to jerk back.

"Don't touch me!" Mackenzie shrieked at him as she jumped up. "I don't like being touched, never did. Momma hated me for that. Momma never did understand." She told him as she paced back and forth in front of the two-way mirror that was in the room.

"Why don't you like being touched?" the doctor asked.

"Some people hate it, some crave it." She whirled around in a circle and suddenly stopped, facing the mirror. "You crave touch." She said to the mirror. "You go where the women are hot and the beer's cold." She moved her arms up sensually as her body curved to silent music, but, then she snapped her hands down on her thighs. "Your other half gonna find out soon." She smiled, "Get ready for some real firecrackers!"

"Mackenzie!" The doctor stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Was I bad, Dr. Forman?" Mackenzie turned around to face him and lowered her head in false shame. "Am I in trouble?"

"Yes, you are. You shouldn't say and do things like that." Dr. Forman scolded. "You're a good girl, but you need to understand you're not a child anymore."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Forman. I'll go to my room now." She turned and walked to the door and waited.

"No, Mackenzie, come and sit down." Dr. Forman said as he gestured toward the chair where she was before. She obeyed and sat down, hugging her legs to herself.

"Wait here, I'm going to step out for a second." He told her as he walked towards the door.

"Dr. Forman?"  
"Yes, Mackenzie?"

"Tell Dr. Mott I'm not sorry and that's he's bastard." She told him innocently.

"Mackenzie, for shame!"

"What? It's true. Everybody speaks in lies. Their tongues are black as ink and their noses are long."

Dr. Forman sighed and left the room. He walked to a door that was near the one he came out of and went into that room. In there was a man and a woman. The man's face was red with rage and the woman had a look of scorn on her face.

"Well, Dr. Mott, you heard what she said." Dr. Forman said to the man. The woman looked towards the two-way mirror where they could see into the room.

"It is interesting that she knew that he was here; especially since he was never here before." The woman commented.

"I told you that she's special. Just how special is what we're trying to find out." Dr. Forman said. "But she's dangerous; she had put five of the nurses in the hospital just in the last three months."

"Do you know why?" the woman asked.

"No, she's psychotic. She doesn't understand the difference between her delusions and reality. Who knows why she does the things she do."

"Yet she sees things other people miss."

"Yes, Mackenzie does, and I fear what she sees."

* * *

Mackenzie was in a sunny room with other patients, seated on the floor behind a couch that blocked the light from the large windows. She was grooming her long hair, brushing her fingers through it to detangle it. 

But her eyes were watching with predatory alertness at the two nurses who was making their way around the room. The petite woman was handing out pills to each of the patients while the burly man besides her was handing each of them a paper cup of water.

The male nurse wasn't there to help her; not really, he was there to protect her. Many of the patients in that room have violent behaviors sometimes.

The nurses were talking to each other and Mackenzie focused, cutting out all other distractions to hear what they were saying.

"This is crap. If the pay wasn't so good, I'd quit." The male nurse complained.

"But who would take care of them if we all quit?" She asked him. "Besides, I feel good when I take care of them. It makes me feel like a better person."

"Oh, so you don't mind being in a room full of sociopaths?" He retorted.

"David! Don't call them that. That's mean." She scolded him as she handed one of the patient his medication.

"Well, what about Mackenzie?" He pressed, "She's put more nurses in the hospital than any other patients in this compound."

"Maybe she resents us. She's never hurt any of the other patients." She defended.

"Yet."

She frowned at him, but didn't say anything as she handed the young woman in question the little paper cup with two blue pills in it.

Mackenzie took it and picked up the pills one by one and put them in her mouth. She took the cup of water that was offered by the male nurse and took a swallow.

"Open up; let's see if you ate them." He ordered her. She obediently opened her mouth. He nodded in satisfaction and moved on.

Mackenzie watched them walk away. She turned her back to them and looked down at her hand where the two little pills were resting. It was child's play to palm them while they were watching.

"Do you really think I should leave here?" Mackenzie asked quietly as she stood up. "But I've never been out _There_. I'm scared." She said timidly as she looked out the windows. But then she smiled slyly.

"You're right, I don't feel anything." She started to move in slow lazy circles, watching the hem of her plain, simple gown flare out. "See the machines that leapfrog the stars and planets that have heaven and hell." She stopped in front of a young boy who was tearing out pages from a book.

"Am I soulless?"

* * *

Mackenzie was lying on her back on her bed as she watched the moonlight travel across the ceiling of her room. There was another bed in her room, another girl who was already fast asleep from the drugs the nurses gave them earlier. 

Mackenzie rolled over to look at her roommate. She was slightly taller than Mackenzie, and had blond, shoulder length hair. Her name was Jane Rollin and she was suicidal, her parents had put her in the institution to see if she could be healed.

"Is she normal? Is Jane gonna die?" Mackenzie whispered to the shadows, her eyes focused on watching Jane sleep. She rolled back onto her back and watched the moonlight again.

"Why do you want to die?" Mackenzie asked. The moonlight morphed and transformed into Jane's face, her eyes were hollow.

_"Nobody understands me. I feel so sad all the time and I think about dieing and killing."_ It whispered to her, the mouth moving jerkily and almost mechanically, its eyes were just pits of black shadows.

"So do I; not the part about being sad. I cry crocodile tears you know. But I don't try to kill myself because I think about death." Mackenzie replied, her finger tracing complex swirls on the bedcover. "I love death. I plan to marry him someday."

_"But death isn't a man. It's death." _

"Exactly, it's _Death._ How many times did you try to kill yourself?"

_"Five times. I almost did it on my fifth try."_

"What stopped you? Or should I say "_Saved_"?"

_"My parents. I tried to use Dad's gun but they found me when they heard the gunshot."_

"I'm feeling murderous. Have you ever killed anyone?"

_"No."_

"I almost did. He tasted so good."

_"You're disgusting. I don't want to talk to you anymore." _The moon face grimaced at Mackenzie and swirled away into just the light again.

Mackenzie didn't say anything, just watched the moonlight thoughtfully. Her eyes were slowly closing when something cold and clammy touched her on her cheek. Her eyes snapped open and she saw before her a little girl with long, wet stringy blonde hair. Her eyes were just black pits and her skin was gray. Mackenzie whimpered softly as she scooted back away from her up to the wall, where she sat with her legs tucked up against her chest, hugging them.

"_Mackenzie..." _The girl spoke, her voice was raspy and echoed. She reached out to her again and it was jerky and abnormal.

Mackenzie couldn't stop herself; she reached out and took her freezing hand into her warm one. She screamed as the cold from the little girl stabbed through her and her breath escaped in a fog. She jerked away from her and scrambled off the bed. She screamed again as more ghosts formed around her, all of the reaching out to her, their touch chilling her blood. Their whispers echoed through her mind until she couldn't hear anything but for what they were saying.

"_Mackenzie..."_

"_Mackenzie..."_

"_Mackenzie..."_

"NO!"

* * *

"How long has she been like this?" Dr. Forman asked as he looked upon Mackenzie's twitching form on the exam table. Her eyes were wide open and her pupils were dilated so much that her pale green irises were swallowed up in blackness. 

The nurse who had found Mackenzie, a woman, was standing off to his left. "I don't know, I heard her screaming and Peter and I went to check it out and we found her like that on the floor." She told him, wringing her hands.

Dr. Forman turned to her and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I don't blame you, Cathy. You are excused."

Cathy nodded and quickly left the room, vanishing into the shadows that were created by the harsh light that shined down on Mackenzie. The woman doctor who was behind the two-way mirror earlier from that day stepped out from the shadows.

"Shame really. I had hoped for a chance to talk with her. See what makes her tick." She said callously, as she examined Mackenzie. Dr. Forman didn't say anything.

"She's dying, isn't she? Do you know what caused it?" She turned to face him, her voice held no concern or very much emotion for that matter.

"Yes. She's trapped in her mind and it's killing her." Dr. Forman replied. "We don't know why or how. She never took the nighttime drug, therefore which cannot be the cause."

"Have you heard about Dr. Mott's studies with cryonic suspension?" She tapped her red fingernails on the side of the exam table. They made a soft scratching sound Dr. Forman found to be irritating to his nerves, almost like fingernails being scratched across a chalkboard.

"Really, Dr. Hellion, Dr. Mott's studies had not yet been proven. He's never tested it on a live subject yet!" He protested. She just smiled at him.

"And now Dr. Mott has a live subject to test it on." Dr. Hellion smiled at him and it was almost devilish. "Mackenzie."

Dr. Forman watched from a window as Dr. Mott and Dr. Hellion prepped Mackenzie in the Cryonic chamber and closed the door over her. He watched as the green fog slowly fills up inside of the chamber until he couldn't see Mackenzie's form anymore.

Dr. Mott went to a panel on the side of the chamber and checked the readouts on the side. He gave a thumbs-up to Dr. Hellion and she turned to smirk at the window where Dr. Forman was standing.

He didn't return her smile. Rather, he frowned as he turned and walked away. He knew that Mackenzie was never going to live again, and she will never be able to die now. He couldn't decide which was worse, to exist half alive, but never aware, or to die and chance that there is really life after death.

It may have been better for her to die instead...


	2. Chapter One: And the Dead Shall Walk

Chapter One

And the Dead Shall Walk

* * *

A small ship was flying from a dark planet, but already, it was beaching black smoke and white clouds of the precious air from inside of the ship. Its path was erratic and its movements suggested of a dying thing.

Inside, its passengers fought to stay alive and to keep the ship alive, just long enough to reach a planet that will allow them to live.

"Are we going to be able to make it?" A middle aged black man asked as he clings for life to the back of the pilot's chair. The pilot didn't say anything as he grimily held on tightly to the controls and fought to keep it going.

"Riddick!" A kid yelled and pointed off to the side of the view screen. "Look, there's a planet!" The dark green and blue planet seemed like heaven to their eyes.

Riddick steered the ship towards the planet and nursed it along. But when it hit the atmosphere, it began to buck and shake so hard that its crew was afraid that wasn't going to make it. The hull was glowing bright yellow and pieces of it started to fly off.

Riddick managed to get the ship to level out a bit, but it was still freefalling towards the planet, which they could now see a jungle.

"Hold on!" He yelled, moments before they shoot through the jungle, leaving broken branches and burnt leaves in their track. Then all was quiet.

* * *

Riddick moaned as he lifted his head up and looked around. The front area of the ship was crumbled towards him, almost trapping him in his seat. He felt something trickling down his forehead and he reached up and gingerly touched it. His fingers came away red with blood.

"Jack? Imam?" He called out as he unstrapped himself from the pilot's chair. He was answered by a soft groan and he carefully made his way to the sound. His shine-enhanced eyes were able to pick out Jack's small form among the rubble.

"Riddick...?" Jack mumbled as he helped her to sit up. She looked relatively unharmed, but for the nasty gash on her upper arm. He hoped it wasn't broken because it would make their situation worse.

Jack looked around, "Where's Imam?" she looked up at him as he scanned the rest of the inside of the ship.

"Don't worry about him." Riddick replied as he stood. He was finally able to make out the holy man's form lying still towards the back of the ship. He carefully made his way to Imam and checked his pulse.

"Imam's alive." He called back over his shoulder to Jack. He saw Jack's relived grin as he turned back to Imam who was starting to stir. When the holy man opened his eyes, he didn't seem to please to see Riddick hovering over him. Riddick didn't say anything, just gave him a quick sneer and moved towards the back of the ship. Luckily, the hatch still worked and he was able to open the door manually.

He was greeted with a clamor of animal and bird voices that all seemed to be announcing the arrival of this new invader. He turned back to the other two in the ship. "Well, at least there's water." He said with a shrug.

The three of them were seated on various rocks and fallen tree trunks tending to their individual wounds. Jack had elected the help of Imam to bandage her arm when Riddick suddenly stopped bandaging his leg and looked towards the jungle.

"What?" Jack asked as she looked where he looked; Imam looked up from her bandage. Riddick didn't say anything, just gestured to her to be quiet. He moved quickly, but fluidly as he reached for his shiv and melted into the jungle. Jack and Imam stood as they looked around at the edge of the clearing they were in. Suddenly, they heard an animal scream and as they turned to it's source, Riddick reappeared. He had a medium sized animal slung over his shoulder. He dropped it down in front of them and started to work on cleaning it.

"What are you doing?" Imam asked disgusted. Riddick looked up at him.

"I'm making dinner."

By then, Riddick had the animal cleaned and cooking over a good fire that Jack had made for him. When he was done cooking, he cut pieces of it off and served it to Imam and Jack with the fruits that Imam had found while they waited for the meat to cook.

Jack sighed with satisfaction as she set aside the bone she had been gnawing on. Imam was sampling a fruit he had found. They were fortunate that they were able to find a device that can tell them what's safe to eat and what's not. She smiled and leaned back into the leaves and vegetation.

"It's like heaven here compared to that hellhole." She commented as she stared up at the fading sunlight that forced its way through the heavy tree coverage.

"We might not get a chance to get off of this planet though." Riddick warned. Jack just ignored him. He scoffed and leaned back against the trunk he was sitting against and turned his focus towards Imam. The holy man was off away from their group praying.

* * *

"Death's spawn is here." A soft voice whispered. "A boy that's not a boy... Angels cry." A young woman made her way along the jungle ground and slinked under a fern on her stomach. Pale green eyes peered out from under long, tangled brown hair. She scanned the jungle around her, but all she saw were the native animals and birds moving among the huge trees. Mackenzie moved forward and up to her feet. She was now clad in the remains of her pajamas that she had worn in the institution. But she was covered completely in a thick layer of plastered mud and vegetation that covered what her tattered clothes couldn't.

"Show me the way?" She asked, almost timidly. She carefully picked her way through the debris until she could see in the distance, the faint glow of a fire. She hunched down behind a rotted tree trunk.

"Humans never change you know, even millions of years later." She whispered, her eyes almost glowing as she moved up and over the log with feline movements. She froze.

A deer like creature that came no taller than her knee came cautiously into the small clearing she was in. The mud and vegan that coated Mackenzie helped her to blend in with her background, even though she was in full sight.

"My love, I'm hungry." She whispered inaudibly to the deer creature. "My precious, I smell your blood." She crept slowly towards the creature as it ducked its head to snatch a mouthful of a lettuce like plant.

She was reaching out to the creature, her fingers only a hair's breath away from its neck when it jerked its head up alarmed and bounded away. She screamed in rage and whirled up to a standing position. But all she saw was a large form move quickly towards her and grab her roughly by her arm and slam her against a tree, a glint of silver traced its way to her throat. She winced and looked up at her attacker.

Silver eyes and a smooth, shaven head encircled by black goggles, as her eyes traveled down, she saw his massive shoulders and his flexed muscles as he held her against the tree. She smiled at him, almost in an alluring childlike way, as she traced her free hand along his side, starting at his belt, up to his arm and down to his hand where he held the knife to her throat.

"My love, you scared life away." Mackenzie said to him accusingly. "I hunger for redness, where can I get it now?" Riddick's brow crinkled in confusion at her. She wasn't acting normally, rather she seemed very unconcerned about the shiv he held against her jugular.

"How did you get here?" Riddick asked, his rough voice masking any emotion he may have felt. She shrugged.

"Death brought me here. He taught me the taste of copper. Can I taste you?" Mackenzie asked, then yanked his hand away from her neck and sank her teeth into the fleshy part of his hand. He yelled and jerked his hand away, dropping the shiv in the process. She deftly caught the falling shiv and sliced it across his other arm, causing him to let go of her.

He turned to see her crouching on the rotted log, tracing the shiv across her skin in complex patterns, leaving a welling of red blood in its path. A trickle of his blood glimmered at him from the corner of her mouth as her eyes locked with his with predatory intenseness.

"Who are you?" Riddick asked, braced to move quickly if he needed.

"Me? I'm Mackenzie." She replied and turned her focus to the shiv. "I'm special you know. That's what Dr. Forman tells me. But he has a black tongue, but not forked. Not like Dr. Mott and Dr. Hellion." She gave a soft shutter and sunk the shiv deeply into her forearm. "I hurt..." she whimpered and let the shiv fall from her limp fingers to the ground. Riddick moved towards her slowly, she didn't seem to notice him as she cradled her injured arm to herself. He carefully picked up the shiv and put it away and reached out to Mackenzie, the tips of his fingers brushed her skin.

"NO!" she screamed and slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me! It burns!" She wailed as she grabbed at her head. "Die! I want to see you DIE!" She screamed at him as she launched herself towards him, her eyes bestial.

His eyes widened in startlement and he only had time to bring his hands up to catch her as the force of her leap knocked him down into the vegan. Her hands were claw-like as they forced their way to his throat. Riddick kept his cool, even though he was at first caught off guard. He twisted his body and flipped her over onto her back and pinned her down, but even then, he had trouble restraining her. Her limbs were everywhere at once.

Suddenly, Mackenzie went limp and her eyes became soft and liquid again. She traced her free hand along his jaw. "Momma never did understand. But you could." She whispered to him. He sat up, still sitting on her legs in case she attacked him again. She propped herself up onto her elbows and smiled at him.

"You're strong. They always gave me the strongest nurses, but I always took them down." She licked the corner of her lip. "You taste good."

Riddick sighed. He finally figured out what was behind her behavior. "You're some mental case that escaped, aren't you?" He asked his voice rumbling in his chest in annoyance. Another problem he didn't really wanted to deal with.

"Shh..." She held a finger up to his lips and tilted her ear towards his chest. "The mountain speaks." He just sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up and grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her up to a standing position. She just purred at him, which only served to fuel his annoyance.

"Riddick!" Jack looked relieved to see him appear from the jungle, in spite of the fact that both of them were muddy and bloody. Imam stood when he saw that the other man had a filthy woman with him. Riddick dragged her to the fire and shoved her down next to a trunk. She hissed at him and clawed at him.

"Where did you find her?" Imam asked as Riddick sat down at a distance from her and picked up some of the leftover bandages. Mackenzie was now watching the fire entranced.

"She was in the jungle not far from here." Riddick nodded back the way he had come as he wound the bandage around his forearm. "She's some kind of mental case, she acts like it."

"She sure looks like it." Jack commented, and caught the attention of the woman in question. The younger woman silenced at her cold green eyes.

"Crazy is only in the mind of the beholder." Mackenzie murmured and started to sway like a snake, her eyes locked on Jack's. "Being insane, it's powerful." Jack started to sway with Mackenzie's motions. "People want to be insane. There's no right or wrong, no good or bad, it's all gray." Her eyes narrowed to slits. "You want to be insane." She whispered to Jack harshly and quickly.

That seemed to snap Jack out of there trance and she sat back in surprise and alarmed. Imam looked at Mackenzie with disapproval, then over at Riddick who was unconcernedly wrapping his hand where she had bitten him earlier.

"We're not going to keep her with us?" Imam asked him softly as he looked over at Mackenzie.

"What's the matter, I thought you were a holy man?" Riddick mocked him.

"I am, but she is devilish. She has survived the jungle before you found her, she'll be safe." Imam replied as Jack inched around behind Riddick to put him in between her and Mackenzie. Riddick laughed.

"Do you want me to leave with her? I'm a killer and murder. No better than her in your eyes." Riddick challenged him. Imam opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he could say anything.

"Two gentlemen fighting for the virtue of a maiden." Mackenzie chanted as she stood up and looked up to the hole in the tree coverage. "The Black Knight against the Holy Crusader. The maiden controls the dragon, you know." She slowly made her way to Riddick and took the bandages he held. She sat down on the log not far from him and started to bandage the deep cut on her forearm. She looked up at Jack keenly.

"The Squire doesn't need to be scared of me, I'm not the one who's gonna kill her." She stuck her tongue out at Jack and leaned back over the log so that she was looking back at the jungle upside down, her hands playing with the vegan on the ground below her head. Riddick ignored her; he had decided that was the best method for dealing with her, and less provocative.

Imam stood up and walked into the crashed ship. Jack followed; she was shaken by what Mackenzie was doing to her. Besides, she was tired and it was growing dark. Mackenzie didn't act like she knew they were gone, she just hissed at the forest and clawed the air, still upside down.

Suddenly Mackenzie whipped herself to a standing position and screamed. Riddick leaped up, the shiv appearing in his hand like magic as he scanned the jungle around them while keeping a wary eye on Mackenzie.

"No! I won't go back!" Mackenzie screamed at the jungle. "I hurt..." She moaned softly as she sunk down in the vegan by the fire, clutching at her stomach. She started to rock back and forth as Imam and Jack appeared at the twisted hatch of the ship to see what the screaming was about.

"Dr. Hellion, I'm free... The dove bleeds... I'll die again... I'll die... I'll die..." She moaned as she rocked, with each word, she rocked faster until she threw her head back and screamed to the sky.

Shadowy figures formed at the edge of the firelight and a woman dressed in a long white lab coat and black slacks stepped forward. Her cold eyes took in the three shipwrecked people standing posed for action, and Mackenzie who was now creeping backwards on her hands and knees away from her towards the jungle.

"You found my patient." Her voice was smooth and sweet as honey, not as cold as one would've thought from her eyes. "Thank you. I'm afraid that Mackenzie is dangerous and unstable. She needs care and supervision." She gestured to one of the shadows and he stepped forward holding a type of a stun gun that Riddick was unfamiliar with. Mackenzie screamed at him as he fired the stun gun at him and a dart planted itself into her skin on the inside of her shoulder. She stood and turned to run, but he fired again and the second dart buried itself in between her shoulder blades and she crumpled.

Riddick tensed and moved forward, but stopped when the gun turned onto him. The woman walked closer to the fire, her men came into view behind her, twelve of them. She smiled at him as two of her men came forward with caution and bounded Mackenzie's hands and ankles with leather cuffs.

"Don't worry, she'll be okay. It's just tranquilizer darts. I am Dr. Tracy Hellion and I am her doctor." She held a hand out to Riddick, completely unconcerned about the shiv he held. He sheathed the shiv, but didn't take her hand. She shrugged and turned to face Mackenzie. In few short steps, she was besides her and was examining her.

"Good, she doesn't seem to be harmed" Her smooth alabaster brow crinkled in a frown as she turned Mackenzie's limp arms over to revel the cuts that traced over her skin and were still bleeding lightly. She looked up at Riddick for explanation.

"She took my shiv." He told her with a careless shrug, his relaxed mood hiding his deeper, tense predatory instincts waiting to be unleashed.

"And she let you take it back? She likes you." Dr. Hellion said as she returned her attention to Mackenzie. She stood, brushed her hands off and gestured towards her men and two of them picked up the limp woman. She turned to face the other three people.

"You're welcome to come with us to our compound." She invited gracefully.

"Thank you for your kind invitation, Dr. Hellion. My name is Imam." Imam said as he stepped forward. She inclined her head to him. She turned away and walked away into the shadows of the jungle. Riddick held back as Imam and Jack followed her. He was leery of her and Mackenzie's reactions to this doctor made his hackles rise. But in the end, he still followed anyway, where else could he go?


	3. Chapter Two: In the Spider's Parlor

Chapter Two

In the Spider's Parlor

* * *

Riddick, Imam and Jack were now inside of the compound that Dr. Hellion had brought them to. They were taken right away to their own rooms where they could refresh themselves before meeting with Dr. Hellion for dinner.

Riddick had surveyed his luxurious room, checking for any kind of spy ware before he allowed himself to take a relaxing shower. He left the shower clad only in a towel around his waist and went in hunt of clean clothes. He found a clean pair of dark pants and a gray tank that was a tad tight across his chest.

There was a knock at his door and it opened to reveal a young woman dressed in pale green shirt and pants that looked a lot like hospital scrubs.

"Sir?" She looked at him quizzically, curiosity of someone who hadn't seen a newcomer in a long time. "Dinner is ready. If you would come with me?"

He followed her to another door where she gathered Imam and Jack, both dressed in clean clothes. Jack had managed to find a similar costume to Riddick; she was wearing a white tank and similar pants that were about two sizes too large for her small frame. He gave her a quick grin and led the small group behind him as he followed the young woman.

She opened a door and gestured within. Riddick entered first, followed quickly by Jack. Imam wasn't so fast on their heels. The room was long and the walls had a silver industrial look to them. But the long wooden table that was in the middle of the room was nothing but short of impressive with matching chairs that ran along its length. The only light in the room shined down on the table and left the rest of the large room in shadow.

"Good Evening." Dr. Hellion's voice resonated throughout the room clearly, even though she spoke just above a whisper. She was seated at the head of the table dressed in a formal black suit. She was holding a fine glass goblet in her hand. "Please, be seated." She gestured to the chairs.

Riddick elected to sit at the foot of the table while Jack sat to his right and Imam sat four chairs from him, three chairs closer to Dr. Hellion. The moment all of them were settled in their chairs, people dressed in black came from the shadows carrying platters of fruits and meats.

"Where's Mackenzie?" Riddick asked, his voice boomed through the room. He ignored the woman who was serving him some kind of meat. Dr. Hellion smiled.

"She's okay, just resting. She has been sick for a very long time and when she escaped, her health deteriorated a bit." She took a sip of her red wine. "Besides, she is not fit for civilized social activities."

"How about a tour of this compound?" Riddick challenged her as he picked up his glass and sampled the wine. He noticed that Jack had been served the same wine and was picking it up to take a taste. He reached out to take the glass from her and set it on the other side of the table near his own. She pouted at him and sulked as she picked up her water glass and took a gulp from it. Imam had declined to taste his wine and stuck only to his water.

Dr. Hellion watched with an amused air as she daintily cut her meat. "We can arrange a tour of this compound tomorrow after you all are more rested." Her eyes narrowed slightly with cunning. "And you can see Mackenzie for yourself then too." Riddick didn't reply, just turned his focus to his food. Imam started talking with Dr. Hellion about her works in the compound.

When they were finished with their dinner, the serving people came back and took their dishes away and served them dessert. Riddick took private pleasure at the way Jack's eyes lighted up at the sweet dessert that was being set before each of them, topped with a bright red cherry. She picked up her spoon and dug in and shoveled a large spoonful into her mouth. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sweet taste of it. Dr. Hellion laughed gently, her laughter was like bells that bounced around the room and Imam was smiling. Jack looked sheepish, but delighted just the same.

* * *

Riddick opened the door of his room and peered out, his sliver shine eyes taking in the corridors. There was nobody to be seen, so he closed the door behind him and bold as brass walked along the hall. The hell he was going to wait for the official tour tomorrow, he found that tours tend to hide what people don't want revealed.

The corridors were dark, but that didn't bother him, he could still be able to see in pitch blackness because of the shine job he got for his eyes. He paused briefly by Jack's door, all was quiet and calm.

After wondering along the corridors for a time, he finally found something that looked interesting. A sign with red words that said 'Danger, keep out. Authorized personnel only.' graced the door. He tried the knob, but it refused to give. But no problem, he set his shoulder against the door and gave it a quick shove, causing the door to break open. He wasn't concerned with covering up his tracks; he knew he would be found out one way or another.

It opened into a dark room with a bright light shining down on a cube like cell that was standing in the middle of the room. There was a form lying huddled on the cot. He pulled the goggles back over his eyes as he approached the cell and rapped on the glass. The form flinched.

"Mackenzie?" At his voice, the form unfolded and large, liquid eyes peered at him from under her hair, which was now clean and combed. He could see fine white scars tracing their way across her clean, pale skin in intricate patterns. The cuts she had given herself with Riddick's shiv were red and the deeper cut had several stitches. She stood up and came forward to him and placed her hand where his rested on the glass.

_"Step into my parlor the spider said, and experience all that you can be. But what the spider neglected to say, was that she wasn't what she seemed to be."_ She murmured softly to him, her pale doe eyes dully searching his through his goggles as if she was trying to find him, or herself. She turned away from him and started to hum to herself as she went to the corner of her cell and rested her back against the wall and sank down to a crossed legs pose. She slowly rocked back and forth in time of her humming.

"What the hell did they do to you?" Riddick asked her as he looked around the room they were in. He could see a computer that was set up monitoring Mackenzie's vitals and a storage case of sorts that held drugs. He examined some of the drugs and noted that he was unfamiliar with almost all of them but a few of them. Those few he did know were used to tranquil unstable people and one that was normally used for large predatory animals. There were a few discarded needles in the trash; it looked like she was going to be high for awhile.

"Damn." He muttered to himself, he had hoped to find her coherent, not drugged three ways to hell.

"Please don't hurt me!" Mackenzie cried out as she pressed herself tighter into the corner. "I won't hurt Step Daddy anymore." Tears fell from her eyes. "Momma!" She started beating the back of her head against the glass wall.

He quickly moved to her and crouched down so that they were eye to eye again. She didn't look at him, so he tapped the glass again. She turned her head slowly to face him and her look seemed almost demonic, causing Riddick to stumble back, alarmed.

"DIE! I want to see you DIE!" She screamed at him and clawed at the glass. He slowly backed away from her as he watched her throw herself against the glass walls in attempts to break free in her murderous rage.

"I'm afraid that Mackenzie is very sick." Dr. Hellion's voice cut smoothly over her screams, silencing them. Riddick turned to face her quickly; he was unnerved that she managed to enter the room without him noticing.

"What did you do to her?" He asked. Dr. Hellion smiled sadly as she walked to the glass cell and rested her hand on the side of it. Mackenzie looked up at her from her crouch in the middle of the cell.

"She has been away from her medications for a while and now she has to go through the dementia again. It is a side effect of the medications she needs and it only last for awhile." She smiled at him. "She'll be almost normal again, you'll see."

Mackenzie screamed and clutched at her head. "Make them stop! There's too many of them!" She wailed as she threw herself backwards onto the floor. She screamed again, her breath leaving in a fog. Dr. Hellion's calm hostess behavior changed to cold and professional as she walked to a computer and pulled up the readout and examined it. Riddick watched Mackenzie screaming, her lips turning blue and there were prints on her exposed skin that looked a lot like hands.

"What's the fuck happening to her?" He asked as her scream changed to a high wail as the glass begin to frost over. Dr. Hellion looked up at him as her men appeared from the shadows with rather big guns.

"She sees dead people."

* * *

Riddick had long since been escorted back to his room and this time, they locked his door. He didn't even have to test the knob, he heard it. He lay down on his bed and laced his fingers behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

Something was rubbing him the wrong way, the ways Dr. Hellion acted around her guests and Mackenzie; the way Mackenzie seemed so afraid and in pain in that glass cell and she didn't even recognized him, even though they had last saw each other only hours before.

Was she really seeing ghosts and were they really causing her to freeze like that? Or was it the meds that Dr. Hellion had pumped into her? He didn't know, but he knew that he was going to try and find out; it struck something inside of him to see that young woman crying out in pain. Just like how now he protects Jack even though normally, he wouldn't have. He grumbled, _Damn it, you're getting soft,_ He thought and with that, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Jack's eyes fluttered open and she stretched her arms leisurely. It was heaven with the soft pillows and clean sheets! She sighed with happiness and climbed out of bed and made her way to the shower, stretching.

* * *

Riddick was still asleep when he heard a piercing scream split through the silence. He sat up and quickly identified it as Jack's; he had heard it too many times on that planet they had left not long ago. He leapt out of bed and in just three bounds, reached the door and slammed his shoulder into it. While this door was made of stronger stuff then the one he forced the night before, nothing can stand against over 200 pounds of angry Furian. The door burst open and he stumbled forward into the corridor and ran three doors down until he reached Jack's. That door was no longer standing in its doorframe normally by the time he got in. He scanned the room quickly and not seeing Jack, he made his way to the bathroom.

He stopped in surprise at what he found. Jack was looking at him startled from where she was sitting on the bathroom floor. Next to her was Mackenzie laying on her back. He could see frostbitten handprints on her exposed skin, but her vacant stare unnerved him.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked as she stood up. She was still clad in her pajamas, a tank and loose pants. Riddick sighed and sat down on the side of the tub.

"I heard you scream." He informed her accusingly as he rubbed his shoulder; it was a bit sore after slamming down two doors.

"Sorry, she surprised me." Jack looked down at her. "She's been like this since I found her."

"I'm surprised that she's even out of her cell." Riddick said as he examined her. Her hands were bloody and torn and she was still shaking.

"I wonder why she came here." Jack said as she grabbed a washcloth and after damping it, started wiping off the blood on her hands and face.

Riddick was on his feet, shiv drawn, before the figure of the woman who had escorted them the day before came into view. He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall of the shower, the shiv's blade touching her neck. She gasped and started to whimper softly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her harshly. He knew he was terrifying her; he tended to have that impression on people when he was digging for information.

"I heard somebody scream and the door was broken. I came to check on Jack." She whimpered in reply to him, she was too scared to hold any information back from him.

"Do you know how she got here?" He jerked his head towards Mackenzie.

"N-no. I don't know who she is!" She wailed. "I'm just the one who keeps the rooms clean! I'm not one of the nurses!"

"You dress like one."  
"Because that's what the uniforms for the staff looks like!"

He seemed satisfied with her answers and released her. She crumbled down to the ground and huddled there, hugging herself. He turned around to see that Jack was watching him, but Mackenzie seemed to be in her own world as she combed her fingers through her hair and started braiding it in complex knots that were almost impossible to see where the start came out to the end.

Riddick knelt down besides her and snapped his fingers in front of her face, but she didn't respond, her gaze was downcast as she separated out another strand of her hair and started braiding and weaving it into the existing braid.

He twisted around, already reaching for his shiv when a shadow came across the floor to see Dr. Hellion appear in the doorframe.

"I see you found Lenore." She said smoothly, pretending to not notice the shiv that Riddick slid back somewhere on his person. He frowned.

"What are you talking about; this is Mackenzie, isn't she?" Jack asked before Riddick could say anything. Dr. Hellion smiled.

"Yes, it is. But her mind has changed personalities and she is now Lenore, the more saner and gentler of the two." She explained.

"Why'd she do that?" Jack asked again, her childish curiosity winning over.

"Because when she is exposed to certain elements, she changes personalities, either from Mackenzie to Lenore or the opposite, to adapt." The doctor smoothly answered as the nurses came in and gathered up Lenore. "As long as she is treated, she will remain as Lenore indefinitely. That is what everyone wants for her."

Lenore suddenly stopped next to Riddick as the nurses were leading her out. She looked up and met his eyes and for the first time, her eyes were liquid and expressive and he could read them. But she lowered her thick lashes and turned away before he could respond.

Dr. Hellion turned to follow the nurses and Lenore, when she turned. "Why don't you join us for breakfast? Lenore can join us; she has manners of a noblewoman." She invited.

Riddick nodded once and she left. Jack was about to leave the bathroom when she noticed that he was brooding.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He looked up at her.

"I think she just asked me for help."

* * *

A different nurse came to escort Riddick, Jack and Imam to the dinning room and they chose the same seating as before. Only this time, Lenore was seated on the right hand of Dr. Hellion. Her gaze was downcast on her hands folded in her lap. Dr. Hellion gestured elegantly and servers came in to serve their food. There was steaming meats, eggs and pastries and fresh cold exotic fruits.

"Milk or juice, sir?" a server asked at Riddick's shoulder. He quickly chose to get him away from him, the server made him nervous crowding him.

"I hope that all of you had restful nights." Dr. Hellion said, raising her cup to her guests. Imam raised his to hers.

"Thank you, Doctor, I know I did." He replied cheerfully. "In fact, I hadn't slept like this since before this disastrous trip."

"Ah, yes." Dr. Hellion acknowledged, sipping at her milk. "I've visited that particular planet before. In fact, that is where I found Mackenzie."

All except for Lenore looked up in surprise.

"She came off that planet?" Riddick asked. "How did she survive?"

"She was in a very ancient cryonic suspension unit." Dr. Hellion explained, neatly cutting her meat in small pieces. "I found her almost twenty-two years ago, when I was part of a team that was sent to that planet to pick up the surveyors. Of course, you know what we found."

"How old was the unit?" Imam asked, trying a new piece of pink fruit.

"Very old, it was failing by the time I found it. The unit was estimated to be over thousands, even millions of years old." She answered. "We believe the reason that it lasted so long is because it was constructed of age resistant materials and had an old fashion nuclear fusion power source."

"I don't understand, she looks like she's in her twenties." Jack piped up, looking over at Lenore. "Did she get put in that unit when she was little?"

Dr. Hellion laughed gently. "No, child. Lenore hasn't been ageing normally, a side effect of the chemicals that were used to put her in suspension." She smiled at her guests. Suddenly, Lenore looked up; she stared across the table sightlessly.

_""Step into my parlor", the spider said. "And experience all that you can be." But what the spider neglected to say, was that she wasn't what she seemed to be..."_ Her voice was eerie, it echoed, not from the room, but from her body. Her body spasm and she threw her head and arms back and she screamed.

"Damn it!" Dr. Hellion swore. "She's reverting!" She gestured to the servers and they quickly escorted Riddick, Jack and Imam out. The last thing they saw was the male nurses restraining her as Dr. Hellion prepared a syringe.

"She's trying to tell us something." Riddick murmured to Jack.


End file.
